Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber Salad with Mint, Lemon, and Cumin is perfect for a summer party. And this tasty salad with shrimp is low-carb, gluten-free, South Beach Diet Phase One, dairy-free, and it can easily be Paleo or Whole 30 approved with the right hot sauce!

This week there are big holidays for people who live in Canada or the U.S., and in my family a summer holiday celebration usually includes shrimp and macaroni salad. I'm not sure if I'll be making that one this year, but I'm guessing my shrimp-salad-loving dad would like this Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber Salad with Mint, Lemon, and Cumin, adapted from a recipe by Ellie Krieger.

Truthfully, I'd never paid much attention to Ellie until my friend Lydia gave me The Food You Crave for a retirement present, but I'm enjoying the book, and finding that Ellie and I have some things in common when it comes to cooking style. I rarely make recipes exactly the way they're written, and I added a bit of cumin and Sriracha sauce for a slightly-spicy twist on Ellie's salad. I'm looking forward to trying some more recipes from the book soon. (Thanks Lydia!)

Ellie has a bigger food budget than I do, so I only used one pound of frozen shrimp, which I thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then I cooked the shrimp in boiling water, seasoned with a bit of hot pepper flakes.

After exactly 3 minutes, drain shrimp quickly, plunge into ice water, then pour the shrimp into a colander placed in the sink and let them drain well while you prep other ingredients.

I used mini-cucumbers which have soft skins, so I kept the skins on. Chop enough cucumbers to make 2 cups chopped cucumber.

After the shrimp have drained well, peel the shells off with your fingers. Be sure to get all the pieces of shell; they should pull off easily.

Whisk together the dressing of lemon juice, cumin, vege-sal or salt, black pepper, Sriracha sauce and olive oil, then stir in coarsely chopped mint leaves, and mix into cucumber-shrimp combo. This can be served right away or chilled for a few hours in the fridge.

Spicy Shrimp and Cucumber Salad with Mint, Lemon, and Cumin
(Makes about 4 servings, recipe adapted from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger.)

If using frozen shrimp, thaw overnight, then drain. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil, stir in fish rub and hot pepper flakes if using, then add shrimp and let boil exactly 3 minutes (use a timer.) After 3 minutes, drain shrimp quickly, plunge into a bowl of ice water, then pour into a colander placed in the sink and let the shrimp drain well while you prep other ingredients.

Cut end off cucumbers and peel if the skin is thick. (If there are very many seeds, I would scrape out the seeds with a spoon before I diced the cucumbers.) Dice cucumbers into 1/2 inch pieces and place in medium-sized salad bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, cumin, Sriracha sauce, Vege-sal or salt, and black pepper. Then whisk in olive oil. (Start with smaller amount of cumin and Sriracha and add to taste.) Coarsely chop mint using a chef's knife and stir into dressing. (Next time I make this, I'd chop the mint in larger pieces than is shown in these photos, but chop it as big or small as you prefer.)

Check shrimp to be sure they have drained well enough to be quite dry, and pat dry with paper towels if needed. Pull off shells, including pulling off tail section, and put each shelled shrimp into salad bowl with the cucumbers as you peel it. When all shrimp are peeled and gently combined with cucumbers, stir in lemon-mint dressing, taste to see if you want to add a bit more salt, ground black pepper, or Sriracha (that would be Lydia, adding more Sriracha.)

The salad can be served immediately but it's best when chilled for a few hours before serving. This will keep in the fridge for a day or two.

South Beach Diet / Low-Carb Diet Suggestions:
Every ingredient in this salad is a low-glycemic choice, so this is a great option for any phase of the South Beach Diet and it's great for other low-carb diets too, even Paleo if you use the right hot sauce. I think this would taste great in lettuce cups with some Spicy Guacamole if you wanted a more substantial meal.

I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you. Or if you're a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.

More Versions of Shrimp Salad for Summer Holiday Parties:
(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

(Want even more recipes? I find these recipes from other blogs using Food Blog Search.)

Blogger Disclosure:

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and Kalyn's Kitchen earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

If you make a recipe, share it with the hashtag #kalynskitchen on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter so I can see what you're cooking!

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

I actually totally had a craving for sort of greek inspired cucumber, tomato and shrimp salad last night. But alas when I got to the store no more shrimps! I guess they had all sold out because of canada day.

As soon as I saw the photo of this, I knew I had to make it! I agree with you and Joanne about the lack of seasoning in Ellie's recipes. Her recipes on the Food Network website often get a low rating because of this. But you're right, Kalyn, she's got some really good ideas. Like this one!

I agree completely about this book -- I like it more than I thought I would, but the recipes often lack both salt and pepper (heat). Sriracha is a perfect addition to this recipe; I'm going to try it. And I'm so glad you're enjoying the book!

These are frozen shrimp that come with the shell on but already deveined, so no need to devein them for me. And you might have nicely asked instead of saying yuck. Do you really think I am so dumb as to not know how to properly clean shrimp?

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

I've recently changed my comment settings so people can comment without signing in, but you will need to check the box to show you're a live person, and comments on older posts won't show up until I publish them. Thanks for understanding!

And if you really like the recipe, Pins, Shares, Tweets, and Yums are always appreciated!

Food Blogger Love!

Copyright Notice

All Photos and Original Text (C) Copyright: 2005-2016, By Kalyn's Kitchen® LLC. I grant permission for photos and recipe links to be copied to Pinterest and other social media sites, but not recipe text. All Other Rights Reserved. (Other bloggers may post their adapted version of a recipe found here, with their own photos and recipe text, but please link back to the inspiring recipe on this site.)

Kalyn's Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.